Jacquard machine with electromagnetically controlled healds



March 10, 1970 E D ETAL 3,499,473

JACQUARD MACHINE WITH ELECTROMAGNETIGALLY CONTROLLED HEALDS Filed March 8, 1968 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig. 1

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JACQUARD MACHINE WITH ELECTROMAGNETICALLY CONTROLLED HEALDS Filed larch s, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet z H 4 Fig 5 HHNRHLH PEN!) mm FEKENL \LNEMETHI,

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March .10, 1970 .4. mm ETAL 3,499,413

JACQUARD MACHINE WITH ELECTROMAGNETIOALLY CONTROLLED HEALDS Filed Hatch 8.196s 3 Sheets-Sheet s Fig 6 Fig 7 Fig 11 HHNDJLH FEND mm FERENL \I. NEMETHY United States Patent 3 499 473 JACQUARD MACHINE WITH ELECTROMAG- NETICALLY CONTROLLED HEALDS Heinrich Feud and Ferenc V. Nemethy, Zurich, Switzerlaud, assignors to Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Oerlikon- US. Cl. 139-59 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The healds of a Jacquard machine are raised and lowered by a separate drive. Each heald comprises at its upper end a hook-shaped stop which can be brought into engagement with a stationary knife by means of an electromagnet when the heald is in the upper position so that the heald drive can no longer lower the heald into its lower position. The upper portion of the heald is constructed in the form of a leaf spring and, when the magnet is energised bends, with the stop, within range of the knife and, when the electromagnet is not energised, the stop describes a path of movement out of range of the knife.

The invention relates to a Jacquard machine having healds which comp-rise a stop and are movable between two end positions by means of a drive, having a holding member to hold each of the individual healds in the one end position and having an electromagnet to control the connection between heald and holding member in this end position.

It is the object of the invention to provide a device wherein the wear on the holding member and the stop of the heald is as low as possible.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device wherein the current consumption of the electromagnet is as low as possible.

The arrangement is such that the maximum possible number of magnets can be accommodated in a given space, since the magnets are disposed above the healds.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holding member which serves for a plurality of healds, as a result of which the construction of the device is simplified considerably because a separate holding member is not necessary for each heald.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device wherein the holding member holds the heald in a position which is in the path of movement of the heald in order to prevent a bending moment on the heald.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device in which the healds are held in guides but in which the friction between heald and guide is as low as possible. In addition, the heald should be as easy as possible to produce.

Various examples of embodiments of the subject of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 shows a Jacquard machine diagrammatically in side elevation;

FIGURES 2 to 8 show different embodiments of a leaf spring with holding member and electromagnet for the device illustrated in FIGURE 1 on a larger scale;

FIGURE 9 shows a further embodiment of the leaf spring in front elevation;

FIGURE 10 shows the leaf spring illustrated in FIG- URE 9 with the holding member in side elevation;

FIGURE 11 shows another embodiment of the leaf spring with holding member inside elevation.

According to FIGURE 1, a warp 11 is wound on a Warp beam 10. This Warp 11 runs over a tension beam 12 and has a large number of warp threads of which only two warp threads 17 and 18 are illustrated in FIGURE 1. All the warp threads are guided in heald eyes. According to FIGURE 1, the upper warp thread 17 is guided in the eye 15 of a heald 13 and the lower warp thread 18 is guided in the eye 16 of a further heald 14. From the eyes 15, 16, the warp threads 17, 18 pass to the edge 19 of the cloth from which the finished cloth 20 is wound onto a cloth beam 22 after having passed over a breast beam 21. A shuttle 23 is conveyed in known manner through the shed 46 formed by the warp threads 17, 18. Tension springs 25 and 26, which are secured by their free ends to the healds 13 and 14 and tend to pull the healds 13, 14 downwards, are attached to a stationary support 24.

The healds 13, 14 can be moved into two end positions by a drive. Apart from the two springs 25, 26, this drive comprises a slide bar with two extensions 31 and 32, to each of which is secured a pin 33. The slide bar 30 is mounted for displacement in guides, not illustrated, and is in driving connection, through a connecting rod 36, with a disc 35 driven by a motor not illustrated. Hooks 37, in which the pins 33 of the slide bar 30 engage for raising and lowering the healds 13, 14, are secured to the healds 13, 14. Furthermore, guides 38, with which the healds are guided for vertical displacement, are secured to the extensions 31, 32.

Secured to the upper ends of the healds 13, 14 are leaf springs 29 which in turn each comprise a hook 45 at their upper end. Above the healds 13, 14 there are provided holding members in the form of stationary knives 39 by means of which the healds 13, 14 can be held in their upper position. Furthermore, above the healds 13, 14 there are provided electromagnets 40, 47 through which the hooks 45 of the healds 13, 14 can be brought into engagement with the knives 39.

The holding member and the electromagnet are illustrated in more detail in FIGURES 2 and 3. As stated above, the holding member is constructed in the form of a stationary knife 39. This knife 39 may be adapted as a holding member for a whole series of healds 13, 14.

The edge 48 of the knife with which the stop 45 constructed in the form of a hook on the healds 13, 14 comes into engagement, is inclined in such a manner that a displacement of the stop 45 in relation to the knife 39 under the force of the leaf spring 29 is prevented so long as the springs 25, 26 tend to move the healds 13, 14 into the lower end position. Mounted above each heald 13, 14 is an electromagnet 40, 47. Each electromagnet 40, 47 has a winding 41 and a core 42. Secured to the core 42 is a head which comprises a face 44 inclined in relation to the axis of the magnet 40, 47. The leaf spring 29 comprises a stop constructed in the form of a hook 45. The shape of the hook 45 and the surface 44 of the magnet head 43 substantially coincide. The magnets 40, 47 can be energised by means not illustrated in such a manner that they tend to attract the hooks 45, which are constructed in the form of armatures, that is to say produced from magnetisable material, as a result of which the leaf spring 29 bends outwards because on the one hand the heald 13 is tensioned by the spring 25 and on the other hand the hook 37 is held in the guide 38.

The stationary knife 39 is adapted in such a manner that when the magnet is not energised the path of movement of the heald 13 with the hook is beside the knife 39 and when the magnet 40 is energised the path of movement of the hook 45 comes within range of the knife 39 and the hook 45 can come into engagement with the knife 39.

The mode of operation of the Jacquard machine described is as follows:

The warip threads 17, 18 are under tension between tension beam 12 and breast beam 21, and the shed 46 is formed in the usual manner by raising and lowering the healds 13 and 14. The shuttle 23 travels through this shed 46 to introduce the weft thread. In the Jacquard machine described, the warp thread 17 is at the top in its basic position while the warp thread 18 is in its lowest position. Thus the shuttle 23 can pass between the two threads 17 and 18. After each passage of the shuttle, the lowered warp threads 18 return upwards to the basic position and for the next passage of the shuttle, the warp thread .17 may be left in the basic position or lowered according to the pattern required. The change of shed is effected by said drive for moving the healds. The slide bar 30 is raised and lowered by this drive for each change of shed.

When the slide bar 30 is raised into its uppermost position, shortly before the end of the stroke the pins 33 c me into engagement with the books 37 of the healds 13 which are held in their basic position and raise these healds 13 into the position shown in FIGURE 2, that is to say when the slide bar 30 is in its uppermost position the hooks 45 of all the healds 13, 14 are out of engagement with the knives 39. In order that a heald may remain in its basic position, therefore, the magnet must be energised by the means not illustrated until the slide bar 30 has travelled so far down from its uppermost position that the hook 45 has come into engagement with the knife 39.

When the magnet is energised by the means not illustrated, the hook 45 at the upper end of the leaf spring 29, which bends slightly, is bent so far towards the left (in FIGURE 2) towards the magnet head 43 that the path of movement of the hook 45 comes within range of the knife 39, and when the heald 13 is lowered by the slide bar 30, the hook 45 comes into engagement with the knife 39 and so cannot be lowered any further. During its downward movement, the slide bar 30 then travels down without the heald 13 as a result of which the pin 33 comes out of engagement with the hook 37. In FIGURE 1, the heald 13 is in this basic position. The spring is extended, the pin 33 below the hook 35 of the heald 13 is not in engagement with the hook 37. On the other hand, if the heald 14 is to be lowered, the magnet 47 is not energised by the means not illustrated as a result of which the leaf spring 29 is not bent out with the hook 45 and the hook 45 does not come into engagement with the knife 39 during the lowering of the heald 14 which can thus be lowered completely. The hook 37 of the heald 14 remains permanently in engagement with the pin 33 of the slide bar under the action of the spring 26 during the lowering and re-raising of the slide bar 30. In FIGURE 1 the heald .14 is in this lower position. The spring 26 has contracted during the lowering of the slide bar 30 and the hook 37 of the heald 14 has remained in engagement with the pin 33 of the slide bar 30.

Thus the holding member 39 and the magnet 40, 47 determine in the manner described which healds are to be lowered with the slide bar 30 under the action of the springs 25, 26. The slide bar 30 can remain in the end positions for a short time if the passage of the shuttle 23 requires it. This is necessary, in particular, in Jacquard machines having a single shuttle in order that the shuttle may pass completely through the shed extending over the whole width of the cloth before the change of shed is effected. In Jacquard machines with a travelling shed in which there are a plurality of sheds extending over the whole width of the cloth, the shed opens immediately in front of a shuttle and can change into the next position immediately behind the shuttle.

The drive of the healds 13, 14 as described comprises a disc and a slide bar 30 for a specific number of healds 13, 14. If the number of healds is too great, then a plurality of such discs and slide bars may be provided.

The strength of the magnets 40, 47 on the one hand and the strength of the leaf springs on the other hand may be adapted to one another in such a manner that contact between magnet 40, 47 and hook 45 takes place scarcely or not at all when the hook 45 passes out of the position shown in FIGURE 2 into the position shown in FIGURE 3. On the other hand, the inclination of the face 44 and of the hook 45 may be appropriately selected in such a manner that bending out of the leaf spring 29 when the magnet 40 is energised is achieved with the minimum possible expenditure of energy so that the hook comes reliably into engagement with the knife 39 whereas the hook 45 travels reliably past the knife 39 when the magnet is not energised.

In order to prevent the healds 13, 14 from being pressed too hard against their guides 38, the leaf spring 29 may be constructed as shown in FIGURES 4 and 5. This embodiment differs from the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3 essentially in that the leaf spring 29 is bent towards the right in the relaxed state as shown in FIGURE 4. Even in the position shown in FIGURE 5, in which the leaf spring 29 is in engagement with the knife 39, the leaf spring is still somewhat bent towards the right. The tension present when the leaf spring 29 is in this position produces a component of force which tends to urge the heald 13 against the guide 38 while on the other hand the position of the knife 39 is selected in such a manner that, under the tension of the spring 25 at the lower end of the heald 13, a component of force which tends to urge the leaf spring 29 against the pin 33 is produced at the leaf spring 29 suspended on the knife 39. Said two components cancel each other out so that the leaf spring 29 is pressed neither against the guide 38 nor against the pin 33.

The embodiment illustrated in FIGURES 6 and 7 differs from the embodiments described hitherto firstly in that the upper end of the leaf spring 50 is of T-shaped construction and secondly by a different shape of the knife 51. This T-shaped part forms a stop 52 co-operating with the knife 51. The knife 51 comprises a recess 53 in which the upper end of the leaf spring 50 can penetrate under the action of the magnet 40 in such a manner that the T-shaped stop 52 bears against the knife 51. As can be Seen from FIGURE 7, the stop edge of the stop 52, which comes into contact with the knife 51, is situated in the plane formed by the leaf spring 50. As a result of this arrangement, no torque is produced on the leaf spring 50 by the force exerted on the heald 13 by the spring 25.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 8, a bent hook is provided as a stop 62 at the upper end of the leaf spring 60. The bending of this hook is selected in such a manner that the contact point between hook 62- and knife 61 lies in the plane formed by the leaf spring 60 in order to avoid torque on the leaf spring. Apart from this, the mode of operation of this form is the same as in the examples previously described.

The T-shaped hook 72 illustrated at the upper end of the leaf spring 70 in FIGURES 9 and 10 essentially has the advantage that it is easier to produce. Whereas the hooks on the leaf springs in examples previously described have to be bent before the leaf spring is hardened, this hook can still be bent when the leaf 'spring has already been hardened without the hardened leaf spring breaking because the bending necessary is considerably less than with the other hooks.

In the example illustrated in FIGURE 11, the leaf spring differs from the leaf springs previously described essentially through its curvature. This curvature enables the rebound to be damped when the hook 82 of the leaf spring 80 comes into engagement with the knife 39. This damping of the rebound is effected by stretching of the leaf spring 80. This curvature is selected in such a manner that the torque exerted on the leaf spring by the hook 82 during contact acts in the same sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A Jacquard machine comprising healds displaceable into a first and into a second end position, a heald drive, a stop constructed in the form of an armature on each heald, a holding member constructed in the form of a stationary knife to hold the individual healds in said first end position, an energisable electromagnet to control the connection between a heald and said holding member, said electromagnet, in the energised state, pulling said stop within range of said knife against a spring force as a result of which a movement of the heald towards said second end position by said heald drive is prevented, said spring force pulling said stop out of range of said knife when said electromagnet is not energised as a result of which a movement of the heald by said drive towards said second end position is rendered possible.

2. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said electromagnet has a face inclined in relation to the direction of movement of the heald which cooperates with said stop.

3. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said knife has an edge inclined in relation to the direction of movement of the healds and said stop is inclined in relation to the direction of movement, which inclination, together with said heald drive, produces a force counteracting said spring force so long as said stop is in engagement with said knife.

4. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein a portion of a heald is constructed in the form of a leaf spring which produces said spring force.

5. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein a guide and a tension spring is provided for each heald, said tension spring tending to pull the associated heald into said second end position.

6. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said electromagnet is mounted above the heald.

7. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said holding member cooperates with a plurality of healds.

8. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein said portion of the heald constructed in the form of a leaf spring is bent in the same direction both in the tensioned and in the relaxed state.

9. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein said stop is constructed in the form of a T-shaped hook on the heald and said knife has a recess into which said portion of the heald constructed in the formof a leaf spring can penetrate.

10. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 9 wherein said T-shaped hook has an edge which can be brought into engagement with said knife, said edge being situated outside the plane in which said leaf spring lies.

11. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein said stop is constructed in the form of a bent hook with an edge which can be brought into engagement with said knife and is situated in the plane in which said leaf spring lies.

12. A Jacquard machine as claimed in claim 4 wherein said bent leaf spring has a hook in engagement with said knife which exerts a torque on said leaf spring, which torque tends to cancel out the bending of said leaf spring.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,204,891 6/1940 Hamilton l3955 2,714,901 8/1955 Casper 139--59 X 2,942,626 6/1960 Dracup et a1 l3963 3,103,953 9/1963 Lauritsen 139-55 3,265,096 8/1966 Zangerle et al. l3959 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,048,906 8/1953 France. 1,476,526 3/1967 France.

925,279 3/1955 Germany.

JAMES KEE CH1, Primary Examiner 

